PARIS, France, Oct 31, (Net) – Achraf Hakimi rose to the occasion scoring a glorious hat-trick on Friday as a heavily rotated Paris Saint-Germain thumped rock-bottom Le Havre 5-1 in Ligue 1.
PSG’s nearest Ligue 1 rivals Rennes lost 5-2 at Nice dropping four points adrift while Olivier Giroud’s late goal lifted Lille second after their 1-0 home win over Lens.
The former World Cup and Champions League winner Giroud is now 40 and the giant striker was flushed red with pleasure after his 86th minute shot settled a tense, tight struggle.
PSG top the table with 20 points after nine games, Lille are second on 18, Monaco can join them should they beat Paris FC on Sunday, while Rennes have 16.
On just two points so far Le Havre gave PSG a game early on as they suddenly surged forward in numbers with the PSG backline scampering in retreat before striker Josh Maja hammered in the opener against the run of play on 18 minutes.
Pushing for a second, Le Havre were carved open in a quick-fire move with Belgian winger Mika Godts racing onto a Hakimi through-ball to level on 26 minutes.
Two minutes later Hakimi left the defence trailing and his blistering low drive just inside the near post made it 2-1.
The European champions were running the Normandy side ragged before Hakimi scored his second with a fierce free-kick that curled low past the ‘keeper Arnaud Bodard to put PSG 3-1 up.
On a lightning break the hosts poured everyone forward in a brave but naive effort to get back into the game, only for PSG to burst back, catching the home goalkeeper way off his line with not a single defender in his half.
Senny Mayulu ran around the horrified stopper, and his cool long-range finish hit the back of the net with nobody in the box effectively ending the contest, just after the hour.
Hakimi’s hat-trick arrived when he threaded a shot through a forest of players on 69 minutes and had hardly finished a triumphant celebration when coach Luis Enrique subbed him off.
“He’s a striker when we have the ball. He’s free to do that when we are in possession, but obliged to defend when we aren’t,” said Luis Enrique.
The Spanish coach left stars Desire Doue, Vitinha and Joao Neves on the bench while Ousmane Dembele and Georgian attacker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia were missing through injury.
